Multilevel Spatial Visions and Territorial Cohesion. Italian Regional Planning between the TEN-T corridors, ESDP polycentrism and Governmental 'Strategic Platforms'

The paper analyses the relationships between “spatial visions” on different spatial levels. The context of reference is that of “multilevel governance”, simultaneously involving the Regional, National and European dimensions. The specific case study concerns Italian regional planning in its wider National and European context. Since early 2000, Italian Regions have been taking a ‘multilevel’ approach to territorial planning by seeking a ‘shared vision’ between different strategic planning levels: the Regional level, with the territorial plans of the regions, the National level, with the National Strategic Framework based on the so-called “strategic platforms” and the European level, with the TEN-T corridors and ESDP polycentrism. Territorial cohesion and territorial competitiveness constitute objectives of all these planning levels and related visions to a certain extent. But, they are understood in different ways, through planning at the different levels. Thus, coordination – the chief problem of any “multilevel governance” – between these “multilevel” visions often presents radical problems due to structural incoherencies or incompatibilities between the different visions which make interaction difficult and coordination even impossible. Efforts are needed to work towards the goal of better coordination between visions, so that they can at least speak a common interpretive language in relation to the existing territorial problems and possible strategies. The paper is organized as follows: - after this introduction, the second section will be dedicated to the analysis of the polycentric regional visions in Italy, based on the respective regional territorial plans; - in the third section a comparison will be drawn between the regional territorial visions and the visions of the other levels (National and European), to verify the degree of sharing of the common concept of territorial cohesion; - in the fourth section some conclusions will be drawn, with the specific aim of achieving better coordination between the different spatial planning levels.